A summery summary

I feel a little self conscious about waxing poetic on the virtues of my trip, of a meandering life on the road, a simple life on the bike, of experiencing foreign countries, etc etc... so I'll keep it to myself. It's been great, and I can't wait to get back on the road. For now, it's back to Colorado for September loveliness and a visit to my family in the midwest come October.

All in all:
90 days
4050mi
75 nights camping
15 nights indoors
6 countries

Cheers to the best summer so far! And here's to more adventures to come.

To the sea, to the mainland [Verhsa > Bastia; 7/29-7/31, 107mi]

I made my way down to Bonifacio, a town hanging on the cliffs of the southern tip of Corsica with more scenic coastal roads and coffee stops.

pretty beaches, pretty 'girls'

On my way back up the east coast I passed through the town of Porto Vecchio, which is slated to be the finish town when the Tour de France races a stage on Corsica for the very first time in 2013. Actually the first (and only) I'd ever heard of Corsica before going to France was hearing about it when the race organizers announced that they'd be racing here. The stage starts in Calvi (where I arrived from Nice) and finishes in here in Porto Vecchio, although I'm unsure of their route. After riding all the legendary passes in the Alps, it's fun to be someplace before the Tour comes.

 As I've said it's really hot here, but the warm and inviting Mediterranean Sea offers some exquisite respite with afternoon dips in lovely locales like this:

They grow some amazing produce on this island: orchards of all sorts and particularly delicious melons, peaches and herbs. There are also massive fig and chestnut trees which haven't come into harvest season yet, unfortunately. Roadside fruitstands abound everywhere and have some awfully tasty offerings. Semi-wild livestock (pigs, goats and cows) wonder around the island and specifically famous are the Corsan pigs, who fatten up on a diet of chestnuts before being turned into aged sausages. I tried some Corsan sausage from a supermaket- perhaps I made the mistake of buying the cheapest variety I could find, as I wasn't particularly impressed.  

My final day was a long and mostly flat push north to the port town of Bastia where I'd catch a ferry over to Italy. The Goddess of Island Winds took pity on my suffering back in Iceland, and she pushed me along all day with nice sea breezes at my back. I made the final 75mi by 3:30pm with plenty of time to get to the ferry ticket office and square away my passage in the morning. One last night camped next to the beach just south of Bastia, I got in a refreshing evening swim and fixed a beachside dinner with two Germans who were just starting a 2 week tour around the island themselves. Nice to have my first conversation in English in over a week, and fun to have some expertise to share with them.

bound for Livorno, Italy

goodbye, Corsica

The Big Climbs, Pt. III: Col du Telegraphe & Col du Galibier [7/17 - 49mi, +8200ft]

Wisely started much earlier today (again had to sneak out of the campground before the office opened to avoid paying 12euros to sleep for 6 hours) and began the long crawl up to the Col du Telegraphe. After yesterday, I have a better idea of what's in store for a climb in the French Alpes: sustained grades of 8%-10% for many miles, gradually whittling away the meters up to the top. Today I actually met another touring cyclist on the way up- a Spaniard who spoke a bit of English and was making his way back home to Barcelona.

From here you lose about 500M down to the ski village of Valloire, where I took a long lunch and coffee break before setting out to tackle the beast that is Col du Galibier. There are a massive amount of cyclists riding these roads, along with plenty of motorcycles, RVs ("caravans" in French) and of course cars. The drivers are all really good: very courteous to cyclists and very confident behind the wheel. With all the blind switchbacks and cliffhanging road, it's nice to feel like your surrounded my competent and confident motorists. Every so often there are roadside trash bins designed specifically for cyclists to toss their energy-supplement wrappers into (although the roadside is still littered with trash... get a clue, roadies!)

 The Col du Galibier was the first ever mountain climb introduced into the Tour de France, and is still a legend today- one of the very highest passes the Tour has ever climbed. There is a monument to the late, great climbing legend Marco Pantani along the way (never mind that he was doped to the gills and eventually died of a cocaine overdose... he's still a badass.)

After hours in the saddle suffering one slow pedal stroke after another, you occasionally turn to look at where you've been... and you understand just why this has seemed so tough:

Col du Galibier approach from the east

I was headed to Briancon, and if you note the sign that's 35km away.... and aside from a couple of soft-pedal rollers, it was all downhill... for 23miles!!! These descents are crazy, and crazy fun. The roads are so steep you quickly accelerate to upwards of 40mph, then have to slow down to 10mph for a hairpin switchback that you really, really do not want to overcook. 

dropping off the Col du Galibier

On many of these roads are the traditional painted messages left by Tour fans cheering on their favorite pro racers. These are the roads that all the legends have ridden up and down, many many times faster than me but without the luxury of stopping to snap a photo.

On the way down, I blew through the Col de Lauteret... which required no climbing on my part but is another major pass coming from the western valley. I don't know if it's fair to add that to my bag of Cols or not... and anyway it's just a measly 2058M  :)

Into Briancon for the night and a day of rest tomorrow, then tackling another round of serious climbs following the "Route de Grandes Alpes" on my way to the Mediterranean Sea in Nice. The fun's only half over!

The Big Climbs, Pt. II: Col du Glandon & Col de la Croix de Fer [7/16 - 48mi, +6500ft]

Off to a bit of a late start as I waited for my tent to fully dry from last night's drizzles, and then it was up and up and up. I knew the road followed a river up the valley... silly me was thinking that would mean a fairly mellow grade. These are The Alpes you fool! The scenery here is just jaw-droppingly astounding- I've always been spoiled by living right next to the lovely Rockies and getting out to play in them most every weekend. But the Alpes are a whole different level of mountain spectacle: soaring vertical faces, jagged peaks, endless valleys and sooo much above treeline. A truly amazing place to ride a bike.

After about 17mi of steady climbing (and a couple descents that you curse- since you'll just have to regain the elevation anyway) I made it to the top of the Col du Glandon at 1924M... about 4000ft higher than the valley I departed from today. The Glandon is another legendary climb of the Tour (these all are) with a monument up top. The crest was just a half mile off the route to the next one, so this may be a case of "Col Bagging."

Col du Glandon, 1924M

From here is was just another brief stint to the highest point of the day, the Col de la Croix de Fer at 2067M.

approaching the Col de la  Croix de Fer, 2067M

you gotta wonder if these cows know how good they have it?!?

From up top, it was a smokin' descent all the way back down to a different valley floor at 700M for a 10mi pedal through the valley where I stopped for the night in St. Michael de Maurien and rested up for a harder day to come. I can't get enough of these mountains!

The Big Climbs, Pt I: Aple d'Huez > Allemond [7/15 - 27mi, +4000ft]

At the campground last night, I ended up next to a couple of friendly British tourers who'd just completed a short 5 day circuit up and down some of the highest Cols ("passes" in English) in the area. They invited me over to share their dinner (chicken curry w/ fresh veggies... far better than I typically cook for myself!) and we had a great chat all evening. I decided to essentially copy most of their itinerary and instead of leaving my bags behind in town, tackle the climbs fully loaded and make a multi-day journey up and down the high terrain.

For those who don't follow the Tour at all, the Alpe d'Huez is probably the most legendary climb of the race's entire history. Although the Tour did not tackle it this year, most years it does and is always the biggest crowd favorite. The road snakes around 21 numbered switchbacks up the face of a seemingly vertical mountain to reach the base of the (similarly named) ski resort at the top.

The fastest pro climbers can do these 14.4km in just over a half an hour.... I wasn't too far off their pace, eventually clocking in at two and a half! Bear in mind that just one (of four) of my panniers weighs more than their entire bike  :)

looking down at the Alpe d'Huez road and the valley where the fun begins

And finally, to the official finish line that the Tour observes... little fanfare but a tremendous sense of accomplishment:

After a celebratory beer (at a place aptly named Indiana Bar) I briefly descended and caught a traverse across the face and down to the little town of Allemond for the night, back on the valley floor and gearing up for some bigger yet climbs to come.

Tour de France stage 14 [Col du Granier: 7/13]

I made the climb up in about an hour and 45min, getting to the summit in plenty of time to wander around the massive crowds and take in the spectacle of a true Tour climb. Fans everywhere, some dressed up in funny costumes, waving flags, milling around with picnics and wine while we all awaited the racers. Super good vibes up here at 1240meters, and the scenery wasn't bad either!

Col du Granier summit- the second Category 1 climb of today's stage

I made friends with a group of local French cyclists who invited me to share their in food & wine- one guy in particular spoke pretty good English and we had a nice time talking about cycling, the Alpes, and how pitiful my French pronunciation is.

A fellow Cadel Evans fan was more dedicated to the cause than myself:

Finally the racers tore up the hill like it was a false-flat with a tailwind... they were seriously moving! Here's the breakaway with my hometown team Garmin's David Millar in the mix- he would go on to win the stage today:

And my favorite Cadel Evans back towards the front of the main group. He's riding ok but not in contention for the Podium this year, certainly not a repeat of his victory last year...

Yep folks, perhaps the fans are more entertaining than the racers:

Being fairly far into the today's stage and being the second hard climb, the racers were pretty spread out by the time they passed us and it took a good 25 minutes for them all to go by. Much better bang for the buck up at the top of the Col!

After it all wound down, I made a screaming descent down the route that the racers had ascended and followed the rollers all the way into Grenoble. It's a neat city flanked on all sides by towering mountains and has a really good energy. No camping nearby, however, so I pedaled 15mi northeast of town for the night and the next day into Le Bourg de Oisans.... at the foot of the legendary Alpe d'Huez- ready to tackle the serious climbing to come.

Le Bourg de Oisans.... a French cycling mecca

To the Aples, dummy! Macon > Chambery [7/11>7/13 - 105mi]

After the Tour hubbub was so quickly over, I pedaled along the first section of their route into the countryside and continued south until it got dark, ending up at yet another ridiculous French campground. [So far, all French campgrounds have been flat grassy parks with people established there as if it's a summer cottage: RV trailers that have an extra room enclosed in canvas/plastic; there are swimming pools, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, food trucks, etc. Not my thing needless to say.] 

At this point, it was time for a serious reappraisal of my approach to France. I've been in a real funk mentally since arriving in Paris and it's not getting any better. Frustrated by boring scenery, the language barrier, a lack of interesting folks along the way and marginal weather, my mood is suffering and my physical ambitions are following suit.

So I have to change something, and quickly. My general plan was to trend down the wide valley between the Alpes and the Central Massif mountains, catching the Tour a couple more times and ending up in the Riviera. But that would all but guarantee more of the same boredom... and this is no way to spend a French cycling tour.

A little pondering and I'm asking myself "why am I not where I love to be: in the mountains?!?" Something I remembered Eszter re-posting on her blog a while back: "Don't worry about meeting people; do what you love to do and the people you want to meet will be there too." So I made the concise decision to head east from Lyon instead of south, get the heck out of this valley and into the French Alpes. I felt elated thinking about it, and relieved that my momentary lapse of reason had culminated with a bit of good judgment. It'll be hard pedaling in those mountains, for sure, but anything beats these dreadful rollers through the farmland and boring little villages.

Didn't take many photos along the way, suffice it to say I had a different agenda than on my mind. Lyon seemed like a neat old city and the people there came across as more friendly than in Paris. They were more willing to speak some English, too, which was helpful. I discovered I could take a train directly to Chambery and then climb up to catch the Tour at the top of the Col du Granier in the morning.... so I raced directly to the train station but missed the last train of the day by mere minutes. At this point, what I should have done was find a cheap hostel, check out Lyon for the night and catch the first train in the morning. Frazzled, what I did do was ride well into the night, another 40mi, sleep in essentially a ditch for a few hours, and catch that same early train from a little town along the route. Saved some cash this way, at least.

Anyway, by the next morning I was officially in the mountains! Feeling great and eager to tackle the the climb up to the Col du Granier (from the north) at 1230M in time to catch the Pros hit the summit from the east. There was a steady stream of roadies of all types & ages heading up the climb; every single one passed me- but I was the only fool with a full touring load going up the ~3000ft to the top. It was hard, it felt great! The hell with the wine country!!!

Tour de France stage 12 [Macon]

I woke up early and snuck out of the campground before the office opened (I have to take free camping however I can get it- not much space to set up in the countryside in these parts for gypsies like me to sleep) eager to see just how much commotion would be created by the Tour start today.

all plants & flowers!!

It was a bit on the disappointing side, to be honest. There was the whole entourage of semi trucks, awards stage, team cars & buses, vendors, sponsors, media and so on, but not much real enthusiasm in the air. Lots of local families out to mill around, but lacking in the crazed-cycling-fanatics department. This guy had a good rig, however:

One of the highlights was being able to stand between two Mavic neutral support cars- each one outfitted with about $20,000 worth of wheels & bikes to give to any racer who needs a spare. I need a spare, I think?

Before every stage in the Tour, there is a parade of all the main team sponsors. Each sponsor company has some crazy creative vehicles (think Oscar Meyer Wiener-Mobile on steroids) and toss out handfuls of samples or other swag. The locals were ravenous and literally climbing over each other just to get a stupid sample bag of cookies, maybe a cheap hat. I got pushed out of the way by some stupid rude kids, and retreated to the other side of the old bridge to await the rollout.

After a long wait, the fury began as all the team cars, Police motos, officials, and press vehicles sped by ahead of the Peleton. Very cool to watch them snake across the ancient bridge:

Being the first mile of so the entire group was still intact through the city: Yellow, Green, White and Polka Dot all up front whizzing by:

And then that was that. After a 105mi ride yesterday, 6 hours of waiting around this morning, the entire Peloton sped by in about 25seconds. And the old folks all went home to make dinner or something. I walked around the city for a couple of hours, hoping to find a cafe that was showing the rest of the stage (there's an HC climb today- surely where all the 'real' fans are at) but sadly sound several showing.... horse racing. And the extra-stupid carriage toting horse racing at that. Macon isn't much of a cycling town, and it shows. The most important road bike race in the world just started from here today, and you're showing horses pulling cute little buggies around in circles. Weirdos.

Boring Burgundy: Fountainblue > Macon [7/07>7/10 - 227mi]

On Mike's good advice, I opted to take the commuter train out of Paris instead of fighting another couple of hours through the 'burbs. Fountainblue is the original vacation estate of the monarchy, before the more famous Versailles was built. It's a monstrosity- 1200 room mansion, sprawling gardens, lakes and private hunting grounds (at the time, stocked with game.) Now it's a tourist attraction, but I saved my 10euros and skipped the tour. I knew I'd just scoff at the excesses anyway, but did have the pleasure of eating lunch in the rain on the estate grounds.

Not a whole lot to say about following the Loire River south: rolling hills of wheat, corn, grapes, cattle and the occasional sunflower field, it got boring fast. Nifty old-world villages every 5-15km, which are cool at first but quickly becomes a "you've seen one and you've seen them all" type of thing. And being in the midst of a monsoon cycle, it rained intermittently the entire time- never terribly hard but just enough to keep me jumping in and out of my rain gear every hour or so. 

One of the mildly interesting aspects is the system of canals- built long ago to make rivers navigable in either direction via a series of locks, many have pedestrian/cycle paths alongside. They made for pleasant pedaling sans vehicles, although you then didn't go through the town centers or have the aid of signage to know where you were at. I was very curious to discover this, however: a canal bridge going over a river. Pretty cool to pedal the sidewalk next to a waterway, with a river rushing below.

My last day of this leg necessitated a huge 105mi push to get to Macon by Tuesday night in order to see the Tour de France stage 12 begin there in the morning. The easy roller turned into really hard rollers and the last 40mi was super tough short climbs into the vineyard regions. I rolled in after dark, snuck into the municipal campground and eagerly awaited the Tour events.... knowing that most all the world's best roadies were sleeping nearby was an peculiar feeling.